MACCAUSLAND GETS HIS HOLY GRAIL

After 22 years, veteran sailor finally wins coveted Star Worlds title

For John MacCausland, winning the Star Worlds championship had become a quest.

The veteran sailor from Cherry Hill, N.J., competed in his first Star Worlds in 1981. Over the next 22 years, he raced 14 more times in hopes of winning one of the most coveted titles in the world of sailing.

Before this week, the skipper known as “Johnny Mac” had finished no higher than fourth in the world championships for what had been the oldest of the Olympic class boats.

The quest officially ended Friday afternoon off Point Loma when MacCausland, with crewman Phil Trinter, finished atop a 66-boat, international fleet to claim his first Star Worlds titles.

“I’ve raced and won a lot of championships in a lot of different classes, but this tops everything else,” said MacCausland, who had four second-place finishes in the best five-of-six race series sailed on the Coronado Roads.

MacCausland’s achievements include being part of Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes team that won the America’s Cup off Fremantle, Western Australia, in 1986-87. He also won a record six Star North American Championships between 1983 and 2012.

“I’ve been after this for a long time,” the 52-year-old MacCausland said of the Star Worlds, which were sponsored by Qualcomm. “We came in here with a good plan. We were prepared, and having a background in local knowledge helped a lot.”

The week-long Star Worlds were the 10th major regatta that MacCausland competed in off San Diego. His strategy: “Get good starts, stay to the right side of the course, and be consistent.”

MacCausland and Trinter took the lead in the third race of the series and were never headed. They sealed their title with second-place finishes in the fourth and fifth heats.

MacCausland said the first four races were sailed in “classic San Diego conditions.”

“We had a good sea breeze throughout the day,” he said.

But while the final two races started in good winds, the wind died out on the final legs.

“Getting good starts in both conditions was crucial,” MacCausland said.

Even though he dropped out of the last race, MacCausland finished nine points ahead of San Diego’s Andrew Campbell, who won the final two races. Two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time Star Worlds champion Mark Reynolds of San Diego finished third, a point behind Campbell.

Fourth was France’s Xavier Rohart, who won two races but also had a pair of 16th-place finishes for 31 points.

Former San Diegan Brian Ledbetter finished fifth in the final standings. Former Star Worlds champion George Szabo of San Diego finished seventh, and San Diego’s Vince Brun finished ninth.

Ten nations were represented in the eighth Star Worlds hosted by San Diego Yacht Club.